NHL expansion draft working in Vegas team's favor

Here's how the last 10 No. 1 picks in the NHL Draft have fared
Andrew Gross/NorthJersey.com

Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee speaks during a news conference Monday, June 19, 2017, in Las Vegas. McPhee answered questions about his hockey team and the NHL's expansion draft. (AP Photo/John Locher)v(Photo: John Locher, AP)

The 12th expansion draft in NHL history, and perhaps the most advantageous to the newest team, will conclude on Wednesday when the fledgling Vegas Golden Knights reveal their first players.

The existing 30 teams were allowed to protect either seven forwards, three defenseman and one goalie or eight skaters and one goalie. Either way, it was the fewest number of players the established teams have been allowed to protect, though only one player from each existing team can be plucked.

Vegas has also been allowed to work out trades as some teams sought to keep some of its unprotected players from being selected. For instance, the Islanders, the only team to protect five defensemen, reportedly will send its first-round pick plus forward Mikhail Grabovski and his $5 million salary-cap hit to Vegas for expansion draft considerations.

If Grabovski is headed to Vegas, that would likely preclude the Golden Knights from selecting unprotected forward Michael Cammalleri, who also has a $5 million cap hit, from the Devils.

That marks one other difference in this expansion draft as it is the first one in the salary cap era. The Golden Knights must select players whose salary cap figures add up to at least $43.8 million.

This expansion draft is the fourth for just one team, after the San Jose Sharks in 1991, the Nashville Predators in 1998 and the Atlanta Thrashers – now the Winnipeg Jets – in 1999.

The last expansion draft was in 2000 as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild entered the NHL. The Predators and Thrashers were allowed to protect their entire roster while the remaining 26 teams could either protect one goalie, five defensemen and nine forwards or two goalies, three defensemen and seven forwards.

The first expansion draft came in 1967 as the NHL doubled in size from its Original Six. The six new teams marked the largest incoming class in NHL history and the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, California Seals, Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Kings each selected 18 skaters and two goalies. Each of the Original Six clubs protected a goalie and 11 other players.

The 1979 expansion draft was a two-way process as four teams – the Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Edmonton Oilers – were absorbed from the folding WHA. The existing 17 NHL teams were allowed to reclaim any players they held previous rights to, though the incoming WHA teams were allowed to protect up to two goalies and two skaters. Then, the existing NHL teams were allowed to protect 15 skaters and two goalies as the four WHA teams picked players.

Among the Devils’ unprotected players who might be Vegas targets are forwards Beau Bennett and Stefan Noesen and defensemen Ben Lovejoy and Jon Merrill.